LV. VOICE
218. When we say, “The fish swallowed the worm,” we have a sentence made up of a subject, a verb, and an object complement. The subject names the doer of the action, while the object names the receiver of the action. The verb swallowed could have nothing for subject but some word that indicates the doer of the action. How is it with the verbs broke, struck, whittled? A verb that requires for its subject the name of the doer of an action is said to be in the active voice.
219. When we say, “The worm was swallowed by the fish,” we have a sentence made up of a subject, a verb, and a prepositional phrase. The subject names the receiver of the action, and the phrase tells by whom the action was performed. The verb was swallowed could have nothing for subject but some word that indicates the receiver of the action. How is it with the verbs was swept, has been eaten, will be cut? A verb that requires for its subject the name of the receiver of the action is said to be in the passive voice.
220. When a verb is changed from the active to the passive voice, the object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb. Hence it is evident that only transitive verbs can have the passive voice.
221. A verb is conjugated in the passive voice by adding the past participle of the verb to the conjugation of the verb be.
222. Conjugation of the verb see in the passive voice:—
INDICATIVE MODE
| Present Tense | Past Tense | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| I am seen | we are seen | I was seen | we were seen |
| thou art seen | you are seen | thou wast seen | you were seen |
| he is seen | they are seen | he was seen | they were seen |
| Future Tense | |
|---|---|
| I shall be seen | we shall be seen |
| thou wilt be seen | you will be seen |
| he will be seen | they will be seen |
| Present Perfect | |
| I have been seen | we have been seen |
| thou hast been seen | you have been seen |
| he has been seen | they have been seen |
| Past Perfect | |
| I had been seen | we had been seen |
| thou hadst been seen | you had been seen |
| he had been seen | they had been seen |
| Future Perfect | |
| I shall have been seen | we shall have been seen |
| thou wilt have been seen | you will have been seen |
| he will have been seen | they will have been seen |
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE
| Present | Past | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| I be seen | we be seen | I were seen | we were seen |
| thou be seen | you be seen | thou were seen | you were seen |
| he be seen | they be seen | he were seen | they were seen |
| Present Perfect | |
|---|---|
| I have been seen | we have been seen |
| thou have been seen | you have been seen |
| he have been seen | they have been seen |
| Past Perfect | |
| I had been seen | we had been seen |
| thou had been seen | you had been seen |
| he had been seen | they had been seen |
IMPERATIVE MODE
| be seen (you or thou) | be seen (you or ye) |
223. Conjugation of the verb see in the passive voice, indicative mode, interrogative form:—
INDICATIVE MODE
| Present | Past | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| am I seen | are we seen | was I seen | were we seen |
| art thou seen | are you seen | wast thou seen | were you seen |
| is he seen | are they seen | was he seen | were they seen |
| Future | |
|---|---|
| shall I be seen | shall we be seen |
| shalt thou be seen | shall you be seen |
| will he be seen | will they be seen |
| Present Perfect | |
| have I been seen | have we been seen |
| hast thou been seen | have you been seen |
| has he been seen | have they been seen |
| Past Perfect | |
| had I been seen | had we been seen |
| hadst thou been seen | had you been seen |
| had he been seen | had they been seen |
| Future Perfect | |
| shall I have been seen | shall we have been seen |
| shalt thou have been seen | shall you have been seen |
| will he have been seen | will they have been seen |
Summary.—Voice is that property of a verb which shows whether the subject names the doer or the receiver of an action.
The active voice shows that the subject names the doer of an action.
The passive voice shows that the subject names the receiver of an action.
A verb is conjugated in the passive voice by adding the past participle of the verb to the conjugation of the verb be.
No intransitive verb has a passive voice.
Exercise 1.—Conjugate the verbs draw, take, find, forget, and leave in the passive voice, both declaratively and interrogatively.
Exercise 2.—Select the verbs in the following sentences. Tell whether they are transitive or intransitive. Give the tense, mode, voice, and subject of each. Change the active verbs to the passive voice and the passive to the active.
Note.—When the verb is passive, the name of the doer of the action is often omitted. Sometimes we do not know who the doer is; as, “The art of printing was invented in China long ago.” Sometimes we do not wish to tell who the doer is; as, “A window was broken in the basement yesterday.” Sometimes the subject is so obvious as not to be worth telling; as, “Lying is despised.” In changing sentences like these three to the active voice, we must supply a subject for the verb. For instance, in changing the sentence, “The pie was cut into four pieces,” we might say, “Mother cut the pie into four pieces.”
1. The babe was conveyed to the church in a grand procession. The road, all the way, was carpeted with green rushes. Over this road the little infant Elizabeth was borne by one of her godmothers. She was wrapped in a mantle of purple velvet, with a long train. This train was trimmed with ermine, a very costly kind of fur, and was borne by lords and ladies of high rank. These dignitaries were appointed for the purpose by the king.
2. The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base.
3. Leicester Hospital supports twelve old soldiers and their wives.
4. After the housework had been done, they went out to the sunny garden, and picked the luscious red raspberries, not forgetful of the time when Mrs. Howe had set out the bushes with her own hands.
5. Many of these splendid castles on the Rhine have been destroyed in modern times.
6. It is wonderful and beautiful how a man and his dog will stick to one another through thick and thin.
7. The door had been very firmly fastened, but the crowd tore it away bodily, and the light of the torches streamed into the room.
8. This garden is shaded by long lines of trees, and adorned with fountains and statues.
9.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.10. Elephants are very strictly preserved by the English government.
11. The farm boy picks up the potatoes after they have been dug; he drives the cows night and morning; he brings wood and water and splits kindling; he gets up the horse and puts out the horse; whether he is in the house or out of it, there is always something for him to do.
12.
They who do their souls no wrong,But keep at eve the faith of morn,Shall daily hear the angel song,“To-day the Prince of Peace is born.”13. Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years.
14. The Peterkins told how their mother had put salt in the coffee, and how the chemist had made it worse instead of better.
15. We climbed the Alps, veiled our faces before the awful splendors of Mont Blanc, trembled on the verge of dizzy heights, shrank back from fathomless abysses, picked our way across the Mer de Glace, and cowered beneath the weight of the whole incumbent mass of mountains as we went through the tunnel.
Tell the part of speech and use of way, sentence 1, forgetful 4, one another 6, open 9, up 9, souls 12, years 13, worse 14.